FAQ
Frequently asked questions
1. Who can apply for a return grant?
2. I have interrupted my studies. How do I submit a grant application?
3. I am on a career break, but I am outside VŠE. How do I submit a grant application if I do not have access to InSIS?
4. How do I obtain the statement from the head of the department (workplace) for my grant application?
5. What documents can be used to prove a career break, especially in situations where the career break consisted of long-term personal care for a child or parental leave that was not formally recorded by the employer or the study department?
6. How are open access fees covered?
7. What should I do to comply with publicity rules?
8. What should the annexes to the Final Activity Report include with respect to publication outputs?
9. How should publication outputs be properly dedicated in the VSE Publications Database?
10. In the calculator, the rate per productive hour for the mentor and support expert team member positions does not differ according to the seniority of the staff member, whereas this distinction is reflected for the main researcher. Is this correct?
11. What is the maximum workload of the mentor?
12. Can I simultaneously receive the Student Parent Support benefit and claim the contribution for the care of a child in the return grant?
1.
Who can apply for a return grant?
An application for the Return Grant Competition may be submitted by the researcher who meets the following conditions:
• the applicant is a doctoral student or a holder of a Ph.D. degree (or an equivalent thereof),
• the applicant is on a career break, or no more than 12 months have elapsed since the end of the career break until the date of submission of the application. The researcher (hereinafter,
• if the applicant for a return grant is not an employee of VSE, they shall document the duration of the career break with relevant documents attached to the application for a return grant.
2.
I have interrupted my studies. How do I submit a grant application?
The return grant application must be submitted via InSIS – Contact Centre in pdf format, including all mandatory attachments.
An applicant who has interrupted doctoral studies also has access to the Contact Centre and can submit a return grant application. In the folder ‘Requests to Research Office and PO’, select the subfolder ‘Return Grant’ and the form ‘Return Grant Application’.
3.
I am on a career break, but I am outside VŠE. How do I submit a grant application if I do not have access to InSIS?
The return grant application must be submitted via InSIS – Contact Centre in pdf format, including all mandatory attachments.
If the applicant is outside VŠE, they may request access to the Contact Centre by contacting sona.macurova@vse.cz.
4.
How do I obtain the statement from the head of the department (workplace) for my grant application?
The return grant application (the ‘Return Grant Application’ form) includes Section C – Department/Workplace Identification. In this section, you must also complete the part titled Statement from the head of the workplace regarding: a) the chosen research topic, b) the relevance of the workplace’s activities, c) the potential benefits of the research for the workplace, d) consent to conduct the research at the workplace.
Before submitting the application via InSIS – Contact Centre, complete this section after consulting the head of the workplace where the project will be implemented. Approval by the head of the workplace will then take place as part of the approval process in InSIS.
5.
What documents can be used to prove a career break, especially in situations where the career break consisted of long-term personal care for a child or parental leave that was not formally recorded by the employer or the study department?
The period during which applicants cared for a child, but which no longer constituted maternity or parental leave, may be documented with the following documents:
1. A declaration by the applicant stating that they personally cared for the child until the start of compulsory pre-school education and that this care was the reason for the career break. The declaration must include the child’s first name, surname and date of birth.
2. A copy of the child’s birth certificate.
6.
How are open access fees covered?
APC (Article Processing Charges) costs are not included in the return grant budget in the Return Grant Application Calculator. Financial resources to cover these costs are earmarked outside the return grant budget. Information on how to apply for these resources will be provided to the main researchers after the project implementation has started. To verify open access publishing options, licensing terms and possible APC amounts for selected journals, CIKS services may be used.
7.
What should I do to comply with publicity rules?
In addition to the logo link, publications and similar outputs must also include a statement that the project was co-financed by the European Union as part of the Restart VŠE project. The mandatory publicity rules are available here: https://opjak.cz/publicita/
Proper affiliation is crucial for identifying the beneficiary and confirming their participation in the project. This entails:
a) The obligation to include the following dedication in publications „This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, under the Jan Amos Komenský Operational Programme, project Restart VSE (Reg. No 02.01.01/00/24_037/0013841 Návraty VŠE).“
b) The obligation to include the following dedication on documents, presentations and other materials created as part of the implementation of the return grant: „This research (this work) was produced with the financial support of the European Union and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, under the Jan Amos Komenský Operational Programme, project Restart VSE (Reg. CZ.02.01.01/00/24_037/0013841 Návraty VŠE).“
8.
What should the annexes to the Final Activity Report include with respect to publication outputs?
The updated Data Management Plan must include a list of datasets stored in the data repository (including persistent identifiers) and, where applicable, a list of other related outputs (including any completed optional open science practices). In addition, an extract from the publication activity database must be attached, including links to the location of the openly available publication output and metadata indicating the licence.
9.
How should publication outputs be properly dedicated in the VSE Publications Database?
Manually enter the number assigned to the return grant project and the project number CZ.02.01.01/00/24_037/0013841 Návraty VŠE in the text field of the form.
10.
In the calculator, the rate per productive hour for the mentor and support expert team member positions does not differ according to the seniority of the staff member, whereas this distinction is reflected for the main researcher. Is this correct?
Yes. Seniority is reflected for the main researcher. For the mentor and a member of the support expert team, the rate is uniform, i.e., without a junior/senior distinction.
11.
What is the maximum workload of the mentor?
The maximum workload of the mentor is 0.2 FTE per month.
12.
Can I simultaneously receive the Student Parent Support benefit and claim the contribution for the care of a child in the return grant?
As of 1 September 2026, a new social benefit, the Student Parent Support Benefit (podpora studujícího rodiče), has been introduced. It is intended, among others, for students enrolled in the full-time mode of their first doctoral study programme at a higher education institution in the Czech Republic who are studying within the standard period of study extended by one year and who simultaneously receive the parental allowance.
If the main researcher reports the unit activity “Contribution for the Care of a Child or a Close Person” in the return grant for a given calendar month, they may not receive the Student Parent Support benefit for the same month. Receiving both forms of support simultaneously would be considered double funding.